It
is said that once Sri Rama came to this place and worshipped the Lord. When Rama returned
to Ayodhya after- killing Ravana and his brother Kumbhakarna, their ghosts followed him.
He installed a Siva Lingam in Rameswaram to get rid of the ghosts. Then only the ghost of
Ravana vanished and the other still followed him. So he again installed another Lingam
(Marakata Lingam now known as Nilavindis - warar) in Tiruvanaikkaval and conducted
prayers, when the ghost Kumbhakarna also left him.
The Lord helps true devotees and punishes bad
people immediately on committing a sin. Once, the temple priests and others failed to
discharge their duties faithfully and started swindling the temple. One day, all the
priests left the place for a neighboring town after placing a boy in charge of the temple.
When they were crossing the river Coleroon in a boat, the
boat capsized and all of them were drowned. Thus the irresponsible priests were punished
and the devoted young
left in charge of the temple was blessed. |
